Another Skeleton in the Closet pt. 2
by Piper Mary Cherry Milano1
Summary: a little bit depressing, but other than that, a great fan/fic, please please please please please read and review, I will love forever and ever and ever and ever and ever if you do


Phoebe sat in her class, struggling not to close her eyes. Most other people in the class were sleeping. She stifled a yawn.  
"Ms. Halliwell!" Phoebe's eyes snapped alive, fully awake, "Would you like to explain why you are sleeping in my class?" questioned Professor Maligoare.   
"Well, sir, I was trying to pictures your explanation of the Chamber of Secrets in New Mexico," replied with a quick, smart answer... seeing as she was in geography.  
"We were Bavarian goats in Egypt."  
"Aren't Bavarian originated in Europe?"  
"Yes, Ms. Halliwell, we were speaking of the migration process," said Mr. Maligoare. Phoebe was blushing to the point of no return when the bell suddenly shout out the signal that made seniors go wild, and freshman get nervous.  
"Ms. Halliwell, may I see you for a moment?" asked the vicious professor. Phoebe walked over to his desk, frightened. His cold blue eyes felt to Phoebe like sticks and stones.  
"One more outburst like that, and you will no longer be in my class," he said staring hatefully at Phoebe.  
"Yes, sir," Phoebe looked at her feet, and left the room.  
"Phoebe, wait!!!" she heard someone from behind her call, and spun around straight into Ben Chaffer, the SFCC football quarter-back. He had just bought Phoebe a Dr. Pepper, as he apologetically explained in the bathroom trying to get her get cleaned up, and he called her...  
"And then you - totally unexpectedly - just turned around and it fell all over you shirt, God, Phoebe, I'm so sorry," he said.  
"Why did you buy me a Dr. Pepper?" Phoebe was still caught up on the details.  
"Cause I heard that that-" he hesitated thinking, "that jerk Turner left you," Phoebe knew he had to struggle to call Cole only a jerk.  
"He did, but-"  
"See, now how could he do that?!?!? You are such a - a goddess, Phoebe, you deserve better than that." He might have gone further, but Phoebe decided not to let him.  
"Well, here's the thing - or - the 2 things; 1st of all, I'm a total witch... And 2nd thing - He came back, see I don't know where you heard about us, but he/she must not have known the whole story, see, I knew he was just leaving for a while. I'm so sorry," Phoebe felt a wave of guilt wash over her, "Really, I am."  
"Oh, tha- that's okay.... So I guess that means you probably wouldn't even consider dating someone else, huh?" he kept his head down as he said this, and Phoebe really didn't want to say what she had to.  
"No, I'm sorry," Phoebe turned away as he gathered his things and left. Phoebe sat for a moment, and then did the same.  
****************************************************************************************************  
As Phoebe put the car into gear, and backed out of that excellent parking spot she had been so psyched about that morning, she heard a loud, incessant honk from the purple Mazda Miata behind her.  
"Watch you back, lady!!!" said a kid with a maroon A&M cap and his head out the window. Phoebe squinted her eyes at him with her witchy look at him; She might be getting older, but at 24, "lady" was still WAY off. *From an Aggie, no less* Phoebe thought, *Oh well, might as well not waste any energy in being angry*  
"Why don't you watch it for me?" Phoebe questioned in the sexiest voice she could manage. The kid got out of his car, and walked towards Phoebe's. *That can't be good*  
she thought. In those 30 seconds it took him to reach Phoebe's borrowed Aztek (the jeep was in the shop), 10 thousand years seemed to pass. When he finally did get to the car, he leaned on the window, and Phoebe gave him the sweetest cheerleader "I don't know anything about nothing" smile she could muster. He turned away from her, and as he turned back, Phoebe gasped.  
"You- we- we killed you," Phoebe managed to stutter.  
"No, no, see you thought you killed me, and now I've come back for Balthezeor," and with the Aggie guy disappeared. Phoebe fumbled nervously with her cell phone and dialed her own phone number.  
"Hello?" she heard her brother-in-law's voice, and started tearing up with relief.  
"Leo, thank God, is Cole there?"  
"Yeah, he is, Phoebe- is there something wrong?" Leo sounded concerned, and Phoebe didn't feel like arguing, so she decided to tell him.  
"Um, Leo, do you remember the Triad?"  
"Yeah, we killed them."  
"No, we only thought we killed the ugliest one, as he kindly reminded me. Now can I please talk to Cole?" Leo handed the phone over to an anxious Cole. Phoebe described to him the dangers of staying in the house, and told him to go to the tomb in the cemetery again.  
"But Phoebe-" Cole began, but Phoebe cut him off.  
"No buts Cole, I'm even going to risk losing you." They said their good-byes, hung up, and Phoebe drove home as quickly as possible. She decided that if Cole was still home when she got there first; she'd ream his ass out, then she'd drive him to the police station and hand him over to Darryl, but as it turned out, Piper had taken him next door to Dan's.  
"Thanks piper, any uncalled-for visitors yet?" Phoebe said after everything was explained to her.  
"Nope, not unless you saw him one your way in." Piper commented.  
"That's a negative, over and out," and with that, Phoebe started running up the 2 flights of stairs leading to her room, but did a dangerous U-Turn when heard the doorbell ring. Ironically, she made it to the door first, and when she opened it (big surprise) there stood Darryl.  
"Hey, Darryl, what's goin' on?" Phoebe asked with a big smile.  
"Umm Phoebe, I need to talk to you about that thing you told me to pick up for you..." he said raising his eyebrows.  
"OK, Darryl, now is so-o not the time," Phoebe started to close the door, but Prue stepped in.  
"What 'thing'?" Prue was curious now, and we all know how Prue is when she gets curious.  
"Phoebe's-" Phoebe cut Darryl off by slapping her hand over his mouth.  
"Cole- My Cole... You know my boyfriend, Cole? I told Darryl to pick him up from Dan's," Phoebe kept her hand over Darryl's mouth.  
"Oh, OK," Prue turned and walked to the darkroom.   
"Did you just see that?" Piper asked in amazement.  
"I thought I was dreaming," said Phoebe.  
"She didn't argue," Piper was still watching Prue's wake as if she was still there.  
"Something must be wrong." Phoebe said, with a look of concern set upon her face.  
"Maybe she's just busy," Piper shrugged it off, and headed back to the kitchen, but Phoebe's look of concern didn't go anywhere. She sat there on the couch for a few minutes and just thought about Joshua, who was the real thing that Darryl picked up. (If you didn't catch onto that, shame on you) when Prue walked into the room fifteen minutes later, Phoebe was crying with her head in her hands.  
"Sweetie, listen," Prue sat down next to Phoebe, "I know you're lying about Cole... I just want to know what you're trying to hide. Look, Pheebs, I won't be mad at you, I promise."  
"You won't assume anything?" Phoebe looked a little doubtful.  
"No," Prue didn't hesitate.  
"You won't pretend to understand how I feel?"  
"No," yet again, Prue didn't hesitate in her answer, "But what if I do understand how you feel?"  
"You won't... Trust me." Phoebe wrung her hands together over and over as if it might help her.  
"Okay, I'll tell you-" But just as Phoebe made what she thought was the right decision, the phone rang.  
"Hello?" Prue beat Phoebe reaching over to the phone to Phoebe reaching over to the phone right next to them, "It's for you." She handed the phone to Phoebe.  
"Hello?... Oh, hey Darryl, yeah, OK, I'll be right over." Phoebe gave Prue a look that said *So sorry, but I'm still glad to get out of talking you*  
"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," Prue waved her away. Phoebe walked out the front door, and saw Leo getting out of his car.  
"Leo I thought you-" Phoebe her thumb at the house behind her.  
"I was, but then I had to go to the grocery store to get this-" He held up a bag of cucumbers.  
"Oh... Hey, Leo, can I borrow your car?"  
"Yeah, sure," He handed the keys to Phoebe, and headed up the steep lawn to the Manor. Phoebe got into the car and moved the seat up to where she could reach the pedals. Being 5' 2", she had a hard time with cars. She started driving, and got really nervous about picking up Joshua. She pulled into Darryl's newly paved driveway, and noticed that her hands were shaking. *What's the matter with you, Phoebe, your hands never shake?* She ignored her conscience, and rang the doorbell. Someone that she couldn't see opened the door.  
"Oh, hey, (I don't know what Darryl's wife's name is, but she answered the door. If you know, please e-mail me), is Darryl available?" She said, peeking into the house.  
"Yeah, why don't you come in?" she asked. Darryl's wife disappeared and in a minute Darryl came back holding someone's very small hand.  
"Hey, don't be scared... remember what I told you before?" Phoebe had never heard Darryl speak so softly to anyone, and she almost started crying when she saw her little boy that she hadn't seen in 3 years.  
"Hi," Phoebe spoke meekly, and felt a tear coming to her eye when she saw the way Joshua clung to Darryl's leg... He was really scared.  
"Hi," he said with a timid wave.  
"Are you ready to come home with me?" she held her arms out, and was astonished when he came running into them. When he reached her, she picked him up and hugged him tightly. When she finally peeled him off of her shoulder and looked at him while she held him, he had a grin the size of Texas on his face, which put one on Phoebe's.  
"Phoebe, I got these for you-" Darryl looked up at the mother and son, and smiled, "I see you've already bonded, here I brought these out from when Alicia was little." He pointed to a car seat, and a juice no-spill cup.  
"Thanks... I think I'd better leave now... I'm dreading going back home and explaining, and staying here longer won't help," Phoebe waved at Darryl, "Say bye-bye to Darryl, sweetie."  
"Bye-bye Dawyl," Phoebe thought she had never seen anything as precious as the fact that he still couldn't saw Rs. They walked out together, because Phoebe was carrying Joshua, and Darryl was carrying the car seat and juice cup. He set up the car seat for young Mr. Halliwell, and then went inside as soon as they were out of sight.  
"How you doin' back there?" Phoebe said, positioning her mirror so that she could see him properly. He gave her a crooked thumb-up sign, and smiled.  
"Good, are you ready to meet your aunts, Piper and Prue?"  
"I fink so," he said staring out the window as they passed the houses on Prescott St.   
They stopped at the Halliwell household, and then Joshua spoke up again...  
"Is this your house?"  
"No, it's our house, you live here too now." Phoebe noticed her hands shaking again. They walked in the front door, and Piper came in to greet her.  
"Phoebe- Whoa, who the Hell is he?" Piper asked.  
"Watch your language... he's........... my son"....................................  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review this story it would mean a lot to Piper Mary Cherry Milano if you did...  
  
  
Love, PMCM  



End file.
